Railway signaling apparatus.



W- WRIGHT & L. LANGFORD.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJ, I914.

Patented May 18, 1915.

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THE NORRIS PErEres cc, WASHINGTON D. c.

WALTER WRIGHT, OF KALGOORLIE, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, AND LOUIS LANGFORZD, OFSOUTH YARRA, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WALTER WRIGHT, a subjectof the King of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., residing at Kalgoorlie,in the State of Western Australia, Commonwealth of Australia, and LOUISLANGFORD, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.,residing at South Yarra, in the State of Victoria, Commonwealth ofAustralia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailwaySignaling Apparatus; and we do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to apparatus of that class which has for itsobject the prevention of railway train collisions, and other accidents,andthe promotion of safe train running. The great prevalence of railwaytrain collisions, in which many are killed, shows that, so far, there isurgent need for many trains to be fitted with an apparatus which wouldrender these accidents impossible.

The improvements in apparatus about to be explained will enable thedriver of a train to be effectively warned, by means of an electric bellor the like on his engine, when another train is too near.

Conducting wires provided extend longitudinally alongside. of therailway track, and are divided into sections, each suitably located andof convenient length, and such that no two trains ought to besimultaneously upon any such section, and if they come to be so, thendangerous further movement of either or both should be prevented; andthese improvements are such that signals will be produced in the enginesof both such trains when they become too close for safety. In variousother cases also in which it might not be safe for an engine driver,when his train reaches a particular section, to pass on, the apparatus(which includes what we'term a collector, for brevity though it is infact a special contact making device) will cause the driver to receivewarning, as by a bell in his engine cab ringing. Thus this specificationrefers, later on, to the use, at times, of a collector on the guardsvan, or a car of the train, the engine of which has collectors.

Of the apparatus about to be described,

to the rails of the specially important features are certain electriccurrent collectors and their combinations with conducting wiresalongside the railway track, and with bell ringing or like dangerindicating apparatus on the engines. Various other electrical deviceshave from time to time been proposed for use in connection with railwavtracks and locomotive engines for safety purposes, but so far as ourinquiries show none with details as hereinafter claimed. Thus ourcollectors are not mere brushes, but have special details suited foractual service conditions. Two collectors are to be attached to eachengine, one at each side, though the collector at one side only of eachengine is in operation at one time. This collector has means of contactwith two electric conducting wires set some distance apart. Thecollector at the unused side of the engine does not contact with anywires, but will be ready for making automatic contact with such wireswhen the engine moves on another track having such conducting wires onthe side of that collector.

The drawings herewith show the construction used, and are largelydiagrammatic. In these, Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a collector,part being in vertical section, and Fig. 2 shows the collector invertical middle section through a control spring. Fig. 3 illustrates afront view of part of a railway engine on its rails, with our apparatusin position. Fig. 4 shows in side view a detail of Fig. 3. The figuresare not drawn to exact scales, but Figs. 1 and 2 are on the same scale.

The collector has two downwardly extending tubular casings h, if, eachhinged or pivoted at its upper part 7, to a frame 6, which is secured tothe engine frame 0, and insulated therefrom by suitable material 0 Eachcasing contains a plunger n, which is pressed with moderate forcedownward by a spring m within the casing, this spring at one end bearingagainst the inside of the casing top, and at the other end against awasher or abutment 0.

72 is a slot (in each casing) through which projects a bolt or cotter 0secured to the plunger, and forming a seat for washer 0. The bolts 0 andslots 3) limit the plunger movement, and also prevent the plungers fromrotating. The latter is important as each plunger at its base carries aroller 1' I as 19 set up in sections were provided and factory working.4.0

the collectorrollers and frames.

always reliable, but in practice one wire is not suliicient for safetyunless it be at specially cared for locations such as at railwaystations. We do not claim single wire apparatus. These rollers have endflanges and are obliquely set with their lower ends nearest to oneanother. They are comparatively wide, and will keep in contact withconducting wires 19 and 20 notwithstanding divergences of the wires fromtheir proper normal positions-parallel to the near rail, whichdivergences will in practice actually occur. The rolling contacts keepthe wires 19 and 20 clean and also the roller surfaces, allowingelectric current to pass readily, notwithstanding adverse weatherinfluences. Casings h, h have, between their lower parts, a connectingbar 71, having a part j (shown as a slot) entered by a bar spring 70,which is between the casings, and so protected, and is secured toframing, as at 7:2 The effect of this spring is to ordinarily holdcasings h, h, in their normal positions, such as vertical, but to allowof the said casings yielding either forwardly or backward toobstructions or unusual forces. When so yielding'they will swing onpivots V The spring will then hasten. the return of the casings tonormal. The spring also prevents that vibration of the casingswhichotherwise would occur, and prevent satis- Wires 19 and 20 are putoneanother by means of At 0 the steps of a locomotive which may havewheels 6 and an axle c are shown, with collectors attached below them,in Fig. 3, but any other convenient part of the engine may be used forattachment purposes.

1 is a wire from one collector, meeting 1 a wire from the oppositecollector, and joining the terminal of a brush 'w 'of a commutator w.

2 is a wire from part of the engine to bell 4L and connected by arm 3 inparallel to a bell 5. Bell 1 is a non-trembler bell, from which a wire 6extends, and from bell 5 a wire 7 '7 extends, these wires connecting tothe commutator brushes c0 and e0 respectively, see Fig. 1. A wire 8branching from wire 7 connects to a primary battery 9, or other suitablesource of electricity, and at into circuit with 8 continues to thecommutator brush w The commutator rotates with axle 0 and overcomes thepolarity difliculty which would be apt to exist if two different enginesin the same section merely had a primary battery each. This coimnutatortransforms the direct current of battery 9 to an alternating one, sothat no difficulty connected with polarity can occur.

0 is a frame on the locomotive carrying the commutator brushes.

If a locomotive enters a section in which its collector contacts withwires 19 and 20, then when'a signal 15 at that section, is at danger,current will flow from battery 9 in the engine along wires 8 and 7, thebrush 00 then the brush wl through the commutator, and along wire 1 tothe collector, then by wires 19 and 20 to .wire 17 to the switch onsignal post 15 and by wire 16, and rail 18,

and the wheels Z) to the engine 'frame and.

, travels from a moving engine toa stationary engine (and not throughthe signal post switch as last described), the circuit is as lastdescribed from battery 9 up to thepoint of the current reaching wires 19and 20; it then goes through the collector of the stationary engine, toits wire 1, brush we, brush 10 wires 7 and 7, bell 5, wire 3 and wire 2,to the engine frame, wheels, and rail 18, then as before. When currentpasses from onemoving engine to another moving engine, then it traversesfrom a battery 9 as before to section wires 19 and 20 to a collector ofthe other engine, then by wire 1 to brush w then through the commutatorto brush 10 along wire 7*, wire 8,,to battery 9 of the second engine,the wire 8*, brush cu out by brush w wire 6, through bell 1, and by wire2 to the frame of the engine,'wheels, and rail 18, and as before to forma complete circuit. v

For use on a guards van or other train vehicle, in addition to theapparatus already described a collector is fitted in some cases withoutany battery or commutator.

The van collector is in electric contact with the van. wheels, but inits normal position it is held up onits hinges as by pulling'a cordconnected to it, above the section wires as 19 and 20, inv a position tobe lowered to meet the same at will, as of the guard. 'Then if breakage,or break away, or other division of a train occurs, or if the guardwishes to signal to his engine driver, he will lower the collector tillit is in contact with section wires as 19 and20. Current will then flowfrom the engine along section wires 19 and 20, through the van 001-lector and wheels to rail 18, and back to the engine and its batterythus sounding a bell therein, or giving such signal as may be providedfor.

Having described this invention what is claimed is:

1. A current collector including a base, a telescopic arm hinged to saidbase, wire engaging means carried by. said arm, a

spring urging said arm into extended position, and means yieldablyholding said arm from movement on its hinge.

2. A current collector including a base, a tub hinged to the base, aplunger in the tube, a spring in the tube urging said plunger outward, arod carried by said plunger and projecting from the tube, a trolleyWheel on the outer end of the rod, and means yieldably holding the tubefrom movement on the hinge.

3. A current collector including a base, a pair of telescopic arms, eachhaving one section hinged to the base, and a second section slidablelongitudinally With reference to the Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the first section, trolleywheels mounted on the outer ends of the second section, springs urgingthe first and second sections into extended positions, a yoke connectingthe first sections and provided With a centrally disposed slot, a lug onsaid base, and a leaf spring having one end fixed to the lug and itsother end extending through the slot.

In testimony whereof We atfix our signatures in presence of tWoWitnesses.

WALTER WRIGHT. LOUIS LANGFORD. Witnesses:

MARGARET J. F EY, IVY O. DONOHUE.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

